Apache Hadoop will power Azure cloud services and Windows deployments. New BI tools support touch-based data exploration--including on Apple devices.



From InformationWeek:

Microsoft announced Wednesday that the next major release of its database platform will be called SQL Server 2012. The release was expected and the name is no shocker, but Microsoft added a couple of surprises. First, the platform will include big data processing capabilities based on Apache Hadoop. And second, new touch-based data exploration capabilities will be extended to Apple iOS devices.

Formerly code named Denali, Microsoft's next SQL Server release has been discussed and available as a community technology preview for several months. The company announced at the PASS Summit 2011 event that the database platform will become generally available in the first half of next year. Again, that could have been predicted.

  Microsoft Adds Big Data To SQL Server 2012